Free Web NovelChapter 126: Chapter 126: Try Toasting Her Again
’They were forced apart for over four years?’
Looking at Gwen Morgan’s beautiful, delicate face and listening to her talk about their past, Cecelia Archer suddenly realized she had been aiming way too high, that she was a hopeless dreamer.
A woman like her, with no education, no background, and nothing but a sick daughter of unknown origins, had actually entertained the thought of marrying Damien Vaughn. What an utter joke!
This was Damien Vaughn, after all!
Veridia was filled with countless single, beautiful, and wealthy socialites. Any one of them was a hundred times better than her, a hundred times more suitable for Damien Vaughn.
Everyone else was eagerly trying their luck, so who gave her the audacity to even think it?
’And Damien Vaughn was such a great guy.’
’He had this perfectly matched childhood friend who clearly adored him, yet he still brought her home and let Candy call him Daddy. Wasn’t he afraid of making Gwen Morgan angry?’
’Or was it that in his eyes, money and power meant everything? He could do whatever he wanted, and other people had no right to be angry—they just had to obey?’
It was like a bucket of cold water had been dumped on her. Cecelia suddenly sobered up, and the budding good feelings she had for him vanished without a trace.
Gwen Morgan was very familiar with the place. She pulled Cecelia along and quickly found Damien Vaughn and the others.
The men were sitting in a garden pavilion, sipping tea and other drinks. They gazed out at the blue sky, white clouds, and expansive green lawns, deep in a lively discussion.
The moment they entered the pavilion, Gwen Morgan let go of Cecelia’s arm and sat down right next to Damien Vaughn.
"What are you all talking about that’s so fun?"
"Just saying how beautiful your family’s estate is."
Zeke Walton saw that the chair next to Damien Vaughn was taken, and the only one left was beside him. He quickly stood up and waved to Cecelia.
"There’s no room over there. Come on, you can sit with me."
Damien Vaughn turned and finally noticed that Cecelia had come back with Gwen.
She was wearing the little black dress with wide straps that he had personally picked out for her at the boutique yesterday, paired with nude-colored low-cut leather shoes. Her long, soft hair draped over her shoulders, and her hands hung at her sides. She looked like an outsider who had accidentally stumbled into someone else’s territory, watching them with a mix of obedience and awkwardness. ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm
Then he glanced at Gwen Morgan beside him. She had taken Cecelia’s seat and was unknowingly sipping the drink Damien had ordered for her.
Damien Vaughn stood up and extended a hand to Cecelia.
"Why aren’t you coming over? Zeke’s talking to you."
Cecelia didn’t want to go over.
Other than Zeke Walton, she didn’t like the other two men present today.
’She had felt a fair bit of gratitude and even some affection for Damien Vaughn, but now...’
She didn’t take Damien Vaughn’s hand. She even took a step back.
"I have something urgent to attend to, so I have to head back. Sorry, I just came to let you know."
Damien Vaughn’s brow furrowed. He hadn’t expected her to want to leave the moment she arrived.
"What’s so urgent?"
’Cecelia only knew a handful of people, and he had already investigated all of them. What kind of emergency could she possibly have that he didn’t know about?’
Cecelia really hated this forceful, domineering side of him.
’It was as if taking his money made her his slave, forbidden from having any of her own feelings and forced to act according to his whims.’
Good thing she had already come up with an excuse on the way over.
"It’s my sister-in-law. She said there’s a family emergency and asked me to go over right away."
Cecelia’s social circle was incredibly small. She knew very few people, and she had already told Damien Vaughn about almost all of them.
’She had originally thought of using Doris Morton as an excuse, but Doris lived too far away and had two kids to look after, making the lie hard to maintain. So, she had to go with her sister-in-law.’
But as soon as she finished speaking, Damien Vaughn said,
"What kind of emergency could she have? Besides, don’t you have a brother?"
"My brother is at work. It’s probably not convenient for him."
"It took us over two hours to get here, and it’ll take you another two hours to get back. That’s four or five hours round trip. Are you sure that’s more convenient than your brother?"
Cecelia said, "...My brother’s at work. I’m just sitting around with nothing to do anyway..."
"Who said you have nothing to do? Do you think it’s fun for me to arrange for people to drive you back and forth?"
Damien Vaughn didn’t understand. Why was Cecelia so unwilling to be with him? She was always so happy when she went out with other people, but when it came to him...
’He was practically tearing his heart out for her. Could he really not warm hers?’
’If it wasn’t for the sake of getting her into a new environment and changing her mood, Damien Vaughn couldn’t have cared less if Wyatt Wynn was angry; he absolutely would not have come today.’
’He’d come all this way for her, and now she wanted to leave?’
Not giving her any room to argue, Damien Vaughn strode forward, grabbed Cecelia’s wrist, and pulled her over to where Zeke Walton was.
"You go sit over there."
Zeke was shooed over to sit next to Gwen Morgan, while Damien sat down with Cecelia.
Gwen Morgan watched this scene unfold, her big, bright eyes blinking again and again.
"Damien, what are you doing... She said she has a family emergency. You won’t even let her take the day off?"
Damien Vaughn looked at her, his expression impassive.
"If there’s an issue, you tell me in advance. I hate it when people are in the middle of their duties and suddenly bail on me. I treat everyone the same, and that includes you."
"Since everyone is here today, Gwen Morgan, I’ll say this: you can join my company, but some things need to be said upfront."
"When you partner with me, business is business. I won’t show the slightest favoritism because of your name, your family, or whether you’re a man or a woman. I don’t want to argue with you about these things later, so I’m making it clear now."
Gwen Morgan smiled, looking completely self-assured.
"Do you really need to tell me all this? Don’t you know my personality and the standards I set for myself? Besides, why are you being so serious? Today is Wynn’s birthday. We’re not at your company, and we’re not your employees, so stop acting like you’re about to lecture someone at the drop of a hat, okay?"
"Exactly," Brandon Jacobs and Wyatt Wynn grumbled in agreement.
"You’re only a little bit likable when you’re drunk. Enough talk. We’re not going back tonight, so let’s drink our fill today. Come on, let’s have someone bring over the alcohol. We’re all adults here, who drinks water!"
Soon enough, a waiter brought a table full of alcoholic drinks.
They reminisced about fun stories from their childhood, joking and teasing each other as they went through glass after glass, bottle after bottle. It wasn’t even noon yet, but the air was already thick with the smell of alcohol.
Only Cecelia Archer hadn’t touched a drop.
At first, Wyatt Wynn and Brandon Jacobs hadn’t paid much attention to Cecelia, only noticing that she had fair skin and a good figure.
But sitting down and taking a closer look, they saw her features were truly beautiful.
She didn’t pale in comparison at all, even sitting next to a once-in-a-century beauty like Gwen Morgan. There was a pure and gentle quality about her that, never mind Damien Vaughn’s explosive protectiveness, made them want to tease her too.
But every time they tried to toast Cecelia, Damien Vaughn blocked them. "She can’t drink."
Brandon Jacobs retorted sarcastically, "How can she not know how to drink? You just open your mouth and pour it in. It’s just a question of how much, that’s all. We won’t make her drink too much. I’m telling you, Vaughn, we’re all friends here. Aren’t you being a bit too controlling?"
Damien Vaughn was utterly uncompromising.
"I said she can’t drink, so she can’t drink. If you toast her again, I’ll throw this drink in your face."
After speaking, he refilled Cecelia’s glass with juice.
"Let me know if you need to use the restroom. Don’t drink too much and just hold it in."
Wyatt Wynn nearly spat out his drink.
’Vaughn, oh, Vaughn! Since when were you this damn considerate?!’
And speak of the devil, Cecelia really did have to use the restroom.
She hadn’t eaten breakfast and had instead downed a stomachful of juice. It was fine before Damien mentioned it, but the more he spoke, the more she felt she couldn’t hold it.
"I’m going to head over there for a minute."
With that, she picked up her bag from behind her and stood up.
As if he were guarding against a thief, Damien Vaughn pushed her bag back down.
"If you’re going to the restroom, just go. Why are you taking your bag? Trying to run away?"
"Gwen Morgan, you go with her."
